Please Help

[Scotland1]

Hey I'm Paul 28 from Glasgow, I just need people too talk to about how bad my anxiety has become. I have this feeling if something is wrong with me then I have an illness and i get totally worried about it.

recently I have got sore hands and straight away I was on google researching and because of this ALS ice bucket challenge I have convinced myself I have MND. I dont know what too do or who too turn too. I started by having sore hands, no I have a sore leg like tightness, a sore shoulder and tingleness in my mouth and tongue. This is driving me out of my mind I can think properly, I cant sleep, I'm getting emotional looking at my kids as if I have a terminal illness and the thought of me dying and leaving them cuts me up so deep. I was at the doctors today she doesnt seem overly too concerned, I mentioned i seen MND on the internet and she told me not too worry as google has the worst case scenario. But I have it in my head i'm dying from MND. I dont know if my extreme anxiety is playing tricks on my mind making me think that every little tingle, pain, stiffness, is caused by this.

Please can someone just offer me some advise or something this is tearing me apart inside with worry.

Thank you.

[Kuma]

Hey Paul. So you probably know this already, but googling about illnesses or symptoms is a terrible idea for those of us with anxiety. The web has some useful information, but there's a lot of garbage that can unnecessarily trigger anxiety. Like if you search for something about having dry skin, you will probably find various references to weird and horrible diseases. And then maybe you will conclude that you have leprosy and your skin is about to peel off like a shedding snake. But 99.99% chance it just means you need some moisturizer or at worst you might have some eczema. That's just a made up example, but you get the idea. Those of us with anxiety tend to jump to the worst case scenarios and overestimate risk.

If you have some physical symptoms, it is good to go to a doctor and get a thorough check up to make sure you are physically OK. Once you confirm that, then your task is to understand that the fear you are facing is caused by anxiety, and by a tendency to overestimate risk and to get attached to the worst case possibilities, even though they are, in fact, very remote. It is not easy, but eventually you can get to a place where, when you think you have a dreaded illness, you can say to yourself "OK, I know I don't really have any dreaded illness because I just went to a doctor recently and he told me I am fine -- this is just my anxiety playing tricks on me."

Of course, getting some treatment for the anxiety is not a bad idea either. I like cognitive behavioral therapy, because it is relatively short term, and there is empirical evidence to show that it is effective for anxiety. But there are other options too, including more traditional psychotherapy, medications (such as SSRIs and beta blockers, among others), and various "alternative" treatments, such as meditation, etc.

If it makes you feel any better, there are lots of us who have gone through the same thing you are. It is really uncomfortable and a distraction from the things you would rather be doing, such as being productive at work and enjoying your friends and family. But you can learn to manage it so that it does not have such an impact.

And you are going to be around for a long time, to see your kids grow up, graduate from school, get married, and have their own kids. Some day you will look back on this and say "I had a terrible bout of anxiety, and I kept thinking I was going to drop dead. But I confronted it and worked hard to get past it, and that was 40 years ago and now I'm doing great."

Best wishes, my friend.

[Xerosnake90]

Beautiful post Kuma. Excellent advice all around. Take care Scotland. Anxiety is a game of the mind that can be beat. Understand the condition and you will be at peace with it. Take care and enjoy the time you have with your kids. Well, they don't stay as children forever ;) form an amazing relationship and you'll have family for life :)